ABU DHABI, 14 January 2010: By using the Aconex project collaboration system, Oger Abu Dhabi, one of the Middle East's leading construction and property development firms, has saved US$550,000 in print costs and reduced drawing review times by 20% on its Sowwah Square (Abu Dhabi Financial Centre) project.

Aconex is a web-based system for managing project information such as drawings, documents and correspondence. It replaces hard copies and email by allowing all project members to access, distribute and store their files using a single, project-wide system.






Due for completion later this year, the Sowwah Square Development consists of four high-rise office towers, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, retail space and 460,000 square meters of parking.

Since the project began, 830 participants from 80 organizations located across nine countries have used Aconex to collaborate. The system has allowed document distribution, reviews and approvals to be carried out in real time.

During the project, Gerard Couturier, A&E Division Director at Oger Abu Dhabi, tracked the value of using Aconex. He said, "Over the past two years of the project, participants generated approximately 65,000 shop drawings, including revisions. Without Aconex, this would have required at least four extra prints per drawing, resulting in approximately 200,000 extra print-outs. As a result, this saved us around 2 million dirhams (US$550,000) on print-outs for the various participants."

To improve control over drawing reviews and approvals, Oger used the Workflows management functionality on Aconex, which enabled them to easily automate and regulate the movement of documents. The result was a 20% reduction in shop drawing review times.

Mr. Couturier explained, "Workflows significantly accelerated and improved the quality of the process. Whereas, when using hard copies and an FTP site, a 10-day review process often turned into 12 days due to the administrative work required, with Aconex 10 days actually meant 10 days."

He added, "With Aconex, we were able to run the entire process electronically through one system, providing greater control and saving a considerable amount of time and money; it is also a sustainable solution that saves paper."

A full case study about how the project benefited from using Aconex can be downloaded from http://www.aconex.com/Clients/Case-studies/Oger.html. 

Aconex, www.aconex.com, is the world's largest provider of project collaboration solutions to the construction and engineering industries and is the market leader in the Middle East. The company services US$220 billion worth of projects across 65 countries, including the Yas Island and Al Raha Beach developments in Abu Dhabi, Dubai Metro, The Lagoons and Reef Island Bahrain.

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Oger Abu Dhabi was established in 2003 as a subsidiary of Saudi Oger Group of companies, a construction leader in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the GCC. Saudi Oger Group is a multi-divisional organization with subsidiaries and affiliates located on four continents.

© Press Release 2010